190881: Ruling on offering supplication in unison in the mosque after completing the Qur’an in Taraweeh prayer

In the area where I live in Atlanta, we go to pray Taraweeh and we pray twenty rak‘ahs. Then one hour after that, there is another congregational prayer which is called qiyaam al-layl, in which between four and six rak‘ahs are offered. We complete the Qur’an on the twenty-seventh of Ramadaan in both prayers. Now I want to find out whether attending the above-mentioned qiyaam al-layl prayer in the mosque comes under the heading of bid‘ah (innovation)? What is the evidence? Please note that after each prayer they offer a lengthy du‘aa’ (supplication) in unison. Is it permissible for me to stay with them during this du‘aa’? What about the du‘aa’ that is offered when completing the Qur’an? Is it permissible to join in with it? Should I stay in the mosque until the imam finishes this du‘aa’ and then leave, or is it permissible to leave as soon as the prayer is over?

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

There is nothing wrong with the people of
the mosque praying Taraweeh with twenty rak‘ahs, then if they want to pray
however many rak‘ahs they want to after that – six or eight or ten, or more
or less than that – they may do so. Then they may end with Witr prayer,
provided that this number of rak‘ahs will not lead to them not being at ease
whilst offering them.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have
mercy on them) said:

The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) did not specify a particular number (of rak‘ahs) for qiyaam in
Ramadan; rather he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not pray
more than thirteen rak‘ahs (of qiyaam) in Ramadan or otherwise. But the
rak‘ahs were very long, so when ‘Umar put the people together to pray behind
Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, he used to lead them in praying twenty rak‘ahs (of
Taraweeh), then three rak‘ahs of Witr, and he shortened the recitations in
accordance with the increase in the number of rak‘ahs, because that was
easier for the worshippers than making one rak‘ah very long. Then some of
the earlier generations used to pray qiyaam with forty rak‘ahs and pray Witr
with three, and others prayed qiyaam with thirty-six rak‘ahs and prayed Witr
with three. All of that is permissible. So however qiyaam is done in
Ramadan, in one of these ways, it is good; what is best varies according to
the situation of the worshippers. If they are able to stand for a long time,
then doing qiyaan with ten rak‘ahs and praying Witr with three, as the
Prophet himself (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to do in
Ramadan and at other times, is preferable. But if they are not able to do
that, then praying qiyaam with twenty rak‘ahs is best, and this is what most
of the Muslims do, because it is in the middle between ten and forty. If
they pray qiyaam with forty rak‘ahs or otherwise, that is permissible and
there is nothing makrooh in any of that. This was stated by more than one of
the leading scholars such as Ahmad and others. Whoever thinks that there is
a specific number (of rak‘ahs) for qiyaam in Ramadan that has been narrated
from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and one cannot
do more or less than that, is mistaken.

End quote from Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa
(22/272)

The scholars of the Standing Committee
said:

Taraweeh prayer in the month of Ramadan is
Sunnah mu’akkadah (a confirmed Sunnah) that was done by the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), who led his Companions in that
prayer for many nights. Then he stopped leading them in that prayer, fearing
lest it be made obligatory upon them. His companions did it during his
lifetime and after his death (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and
this practice has continued until today. With regard to the number of
rak‘ahs, there is no proof of any specific number, and the scholars differed
concerning it. Some of them think that it should be twenty-three; others
think that it should be thirty-six; and others think that it should be more
or less than that. At the time of ‘Umar, the Sahaabah prayed it with
twenty-three rak‘ahs in the mosque of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him), but the Prophet never prayed more than eleven
or thirteen rak‘ahs during Ramadan or at other times, and he did not set a
specific number of rak‘ahs for people to do in Taraweeh and qiyaam al-layl.
Rather he used to encourage people to pray qiyaam al-layl, especially in
Ramadan.

Whoever makes the prayer lengthy may reduce
the number of rak‘ahs, as the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) used to do. Whoever makes the prayer briefer out of compassion towards
the people may increase the number of rak‘ahs, as the Sahaabah did at the
time of ‘Umar.

There is nothing wrong with increasing the
number of rak‘ahs in the last ten days of Ramadan and doing a different
number than in the first twenty days, and dividing them into two halves, one
half to be done at the beginning of the night and made brief on the basis
that it is Taraweeh as done in the first twenty days, and the other half to
be done at the end of the night and made lengthy, on the basis that it is
Tahajjud. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to
pray Tahajjud in the last ten nights in a way that he did not do at other
times.

End quote from Fataawa al-Lajnah
ad-Daa’imah (6/82)

Secondly:

With regard to those who offer lengthy
communal du‘aa’s, if that is at the time of Qunoot, in the last rak‘ah of
Witr, then this is prescribed and is good, and there is nothing wrong with
it.

If that is done after the end of the prayer,
as we understand from the question, then it is an innovation (bid‘ah); it
was not the practice of the Sahaabah and early generations, and none of the
leading scholars – as far as we know – regarded it as mustahabb. So what
must be done is to object to that and teach them the Sunnah, and inform them
that this kind of du‘aa’ comes under the heading of innovations that have
been introduced into the religion. Whoever wants to converse with his Lord,
remember Him (dhikr) and call upon Him (du‘aa’), let him do that
individually, not in a group, and in a soft voice. But those who seek to
convey this message must do so with wisdom and beautiful preaching.

The scholars of the Standing Committee were
asked:

There are some imams of mosques who, after
each four rak‘ahs of Taraweeh prayer, say a communal du‘aa’, such as saying
“Allaahumma innaka
‘afuwwun tuhibb al-‘afwa fa‘affu ‘anni
(O Allaah, You are forgiving and You love forgiveness, so forgive me)”;
what is the ruling on that?

The committee replied:

It is not permissible to offer a communal
du‘aa’ after every four rak‘ahs, because this is an innovation (bid‘ah) for
which there is no evidence in the Qur’an and Sunnah.

You should carry on praying with them and
calling them to the Sunnah, but you should not join them in this du‘aa’;
rather you should sit and wait for the prayer so that you may pray with
them, and concentrate on reading Qur’an or offering supplication (du‘aa’)
and remembering Allah (dhikr), each one doing so by himself, and objecting
in your hearts and verbally to any action that is contrary to the Sunnah and
anything that is introduced into the religion of Allah.

If they persist in doing this innovation,
and you are able to pray in another mosque where the people are keen to
follow the Sunnah and avoid bid‘ah, that is preferable.

It is not part of the Prophet’s Sunnah to
offer a particular du‘aa’ after completing a reading of the Qur’an; there is
no report to that effect from the Companions of the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) or the well-known imams (leading scholars).

So there is no basis for offering a du‘aa’
after completing the Qur’an in the prayer.

Outside of prayer, there is a proven report
from Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him).

It is not known from the Sahaabah or the
early generations who came after them that they used to gather in the mosque
to offer du‘aa’ after completing the Qur’an in Taraweeh, or in the prayer or
otherwise.

But if the du‘aa’ after completing the
Qur’an is proven to be from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) or anyone
else among the Taabi‘een, then there is nothing wrong with that in general,
so long as it is not done communally or as a persistent practice, with a
specific wording.

The scholars of the Standing Committee
said:

Offering du‘aa’ after completing the Qur’an
is prescribed, but it should not be done persistently and one should not
adhere to a specific wording as if it is a Sunnah to be followed, because
that is not proven from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him); rather it was done by some of the Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with
them).